🔗 Share this article

Sikh females throughout the Midlands region are explaining a wave of assaults driven by religious bias has instilled deep-seated anxiety among their people, compelling some to “radically modify” about their daily routines.

Series of Attacks Causes Fear

Two sexual assaults of Sikh women, each in their twenties, in Walsall and Oldbury, have come to light during the last several weeks. A man in his early thirties has been charged related to a faith-based sexual assault in relation to the reported Walsall incident.

Such occurrences, combined with a physical aggression on two elderly Sikh taxi drivers from Wolverhampton, led to a parliamentary gathering towards October's close concerning bias-motivated crimes targeting Sikhs across the Midlands.

Ladies Modifying Habits

An advocate from a domestic abuse charity across the West Midlands commented that ladies were modifying their regular habits to ensure their security.

“The fear, the now complete changing of your day-to-day living, that is real. I have not seen that before,” she said. “It’s the initial instance since founding Sikh Women’s Aid that females have told us: ‘We’ve stopped engaging in activities we love due to potential danger.’”

Women were “not comfortable” going to the gym, or going for walks or runs now, she indicated. “They now undertake these activities collectively. They notify friends or relatives of their whereabouts.

“An assault in Walsall will frighten females in Coventry since it’s within the Midlands,” she said. “Clearly, there’s a transformation in the manner ladies approach their own protection.”

Public Reactions and Defensive Steps

Sikh gurdwaras in the Midlands region have started providing rape and security alarms to women to help ensure their security.

Within a Walsall place of worship, a frequent visitor remarked that the incidents had “altered everything” for Sikhs living in the area.

Specifically, she revealed she felt unsafe attending worship by herself, and she had told her elderly mother to be careful when opening her front door. “Everyone is a potential victim,” she affirmed. “Anyone can be attacked day or night.”

Another member stated she was adopting further protective steps during her travels to work. “I attempt to park closer to the transit hub,” she commented. “I listen to paath [prayer] through headphones but keep it quiet enough to detect passing vehicles and ambient noise.”

Echoes of Past Anxieties

A mother of three remarked: “My daughters and I take walks, but current crime levels make it feel highly dangerous.

“In the past, we didn’t contemplate these defensive actions,” she continued. “I’m always watching my back.”

For an individual raised in the area, the environment is reminiscent of the racism older generations faced during the seventies and eighties.

“We’ve experienced all this in the 1980s when our mums used to go past where the community hall is,” she reflected. “The National Front members would sit there, spitting, hurling insults, or unleashing dogs. Somehow, I’m reliving that era. Mentally, I feel those days have returned.”

A community representative supported this view, saying people felt “we’ve regressed to an era … marked by overt racism”.

“People are scared to go out in the community,” she emphasized. “Many hesitate to display religious symbols like turbans or scarves.”

Authority Actions and Comforting Words

City officials had set up more monitoring systems around gurdwaras to reassure the community.

Police representatives announced they were conducting discussions with community leaders, ladies’ associations, and local representatives, and going to worship centers, to address female security.

“The past week has been tough for the public,” a senior officer told a temple board. “No one should reside in a neighborhood filled with fear.”

Municipal leadership declared it was “collaborating closely with law enforcement and the Sikh population, as well as broader groups, to offer aid and comfort”.

One more local authority figure remarked: “The terrible occurrence in Oldbury left us all appalled.” She added that the council worked with the police as part of a safety partnership to tackle violence against women and girls and hate crime.